On 29 and 30 November 2018, farmers from many states marched through Delhi to Ramlila Maidan and then to Parliament Street under the banner of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a front of about 200 farmer groups. They demanded a 21-day special session of Parliament on the farm crisis and two private member's bills on loan waivers and a guaranteed minimum support price (MSP). The march was peaceful. No special session was called and neither bill was passed; in February 2019 the Centre announced PM-KISAN, Rs 6,000 a year for small farmers.
Key takeaways
- The Kisan Mukti March on 29 and 30 November 2018 was organised by the AIKSCC, a front of about 200 farmer groups formed in June 2017 after the Mandsaur police firing.
- It demanded a 21-day special session of Parliament and two private member's bills on debt relief and a legal right to MSP. Organisers expected about one lakh farmers; a Delhi Police officer said more than 8,000 reached Ramlila Maidan.
- It followed the March 2018 Nashik-to-Mumbai Long March and the October 2018 Kisan Kranti Padyatra, stopped at the Delhi-UP border with tear gas and water cannon.
- The government said MSPs were already 1.5 times cost from 2018-19; farmer groups disputed the cost measure. No special session was held.
Background: a year of farmer marches
The AIKSCC was formed in June 2017 under the aegis of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and other Left-affiliated farmer bodies, after farmer protests in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh over debt and crop prices PTI via Gulf News. It was formed after five protesting farmers died in police firing in Mandsaur in 2017 The Wire.
Its members included the AIKS, Medha Patkar's National Alliance of People's Movements, Yogendra Yadav's Jai Kisan Andolan, V M Singh's Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan and Raju Shetti's Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana Deccan Herald.
March 2018: the Kisan Long March, Nashik to Mumbai
In March 2018 the AIKS led a seven-day, 180 km walk from Nashik to Mumbai. Most of the marchers were Adivasi farmers seeking title to forest land they had tilled for years IndiaSpend via Business Standard Al Jazeera. Size estimates for the crowd at Azad Maidan on 12 March ranged from about 35,000 (IndiaSpend, The Quint) to nearly 40,000 (Al Jazeera).
On 12 March the government of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis agreed to most demands, including faster land titles under the Forest Rights Act, wider eligibility for the 2017 loan waiver and higher pensions for farm labourers IndiaSpend via Business Standard. AIKS president Ashok Dhawale said: "We have achieved a historic victory as the government has given its assurances in writing this time" The Quint.
October 2018: the Kisan Kranti Padyatra at the Delhi-UP border
The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), led by Naresh Tikait, set out from Haridwar on 23 September 2018 for Kisan Ghat in Delhi, demanding higher MSPs, cheaper diesel and power, and a loan waiver The Wire. On 2 October, Gandhi Jayanti, police stopped the march at the Delhi-UP border near Ghaziabad. PTI put the crowd at about 20,000 PTI via Deccan Herald; The Wire reported more than 70,000 The Wire.
Farmers drove tractors into the barricades, and police fired tear gas shells and water cannon. Some farmers said Delhi Police had used lathis on them. Delhi Police denied this and said seven of its personnel, including an assistant commissioner, were injured PTI via Deccan Herald. After talks with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the government offered "effective measures" on seven of 15 demands; the BKU said it was "silent" on loan waivers. A special session of Parliament was among the demands not considered National Herald. Police opened the barricades after midnight. The farmers reached Kisan Ghat at about 2 am on 3 October and called off the march IANS via IBTimes.
What the Kisan Mukti March demanded
The AIKSCC wanted a 21-day special joint session of Parliament on agrarian distress, to adopt the Farmers' Freedom from Indebtedness Bill, 2018 and the Farmers' Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Prices for Agricultural Commodities Bill, 2018, and to hear farmers from inside Parliament Deccan Herald.
Raju Shetti introduced both bills in the Lok Sabha on 3 August 2018 as private member's bills. The debt bill sought a one-time loan waiver and a right to institutional credit. The MSP bill sought a full estimate of production costs, a ban on sales below MSP and a duty on the government to open procurement centres. The AIKSCC drafted both bills, and 21 parties, including the Congress, CPI(M), Shiv Sena, NCP, TMC, BSP and DMK, backed them The Wire. CPI(M) MP K K Ragesh moved the bills in the Rajya Sabha Sabrang.
Timeline
Four marches to Ramlila Maidan
Groups walk in from Bijwasan, Majnu Ka Tila, Nizamuddin, Anand Vihar and Sabzi Mandi. Yogendra Yadav leads a 26 km walk from Bijwasan IANS.
Permission granted
Medha Patkar says police permission came at midnight IANS.
March to Parliament Street
The march leaves Ramlila Maidan at 10 am and reaches Parliament Street at 11.30 am IANS.
The two days in Delhi
On 29 November, farmers came in by train and bus from states including Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Five gurdwaras gave them help or a place to stay PTI via Gulf News. About 600 to 700 "Nation for Farmers" volunteers, including students, doctors and lawyers, walked with them National Herald. Many Madhya Pradesh farmers took the train to Delhi straight after voting in their state's Assembly election PARI.
Permission for the march to Parliament came only around midnight. Madhur Verma, DCP of New Delhi district, said police "gave permission for rallying from Ramlila Maidan to Jantar Mantar, with conditions" National Herald.
The march on 30 November was peaceful; the reports cited here describe no clashes or arrests. Opposition leaders including Arvind Kejriwal, Sharad Pawar, Sitaram Yechury and Farooq Abdullah spoke near Jantar Mantar. Rahul Gandhi said: "If you (the Modi government) can give Rs 30,000 crore to Ambani for aircraft, you'll have to waive farm loans too" The Quint.
How many marched
No official count was published, and the estimates differ widely.
- Organisers: farmer groups said they expected about one lakh people, and the AIKSCC said the rally would be "one of the largest congregations of farmers in Delhi" Claim · AIKSCC National Herald.
- Delhi Police: DCP Madhur Verma said "more than 8,000 farmers reached Ramlila Maidan" National Herald.
- News agencies: PTI and IANS reported "thousands" of farmers PTI IANS.
- Police deployment: more than 3,500 police personnel were on the route PTI via Gulf News, and about 1,000 traffic personnel were deployed National Herald.
Both accounts
Farmers' and organisers' account
The organisers said the farm crisis had led to over 3 lakh farmer suicides and deserved a session of Parliament, just as GST had got a midnight joint session Claim · AIKSCC Sabrang. Shetti said: "If the issue of remunerative prices alone is tackled without providing relief from indebtedness, the increased returns will only go towards repaying loans" The Wire. Farmer groups said the "1.5 times cost" MSP used the narrower A2+FL cost, not the C2 cost of the Swaminathan formula. India Ratings said the increase "may placate farmers to some extent but will not be enough" Business Standard.
Government and BJP account
Government's position On 4 July 2018 the Cabinet raised kharif MSPs. It said this "redeems the promise" in the 2018-19 Budget to fix MSPs at "at least 150 percent of the cost of production". Cabinet release via Business Standard. The cost base was A2+FL: all paid-out costs plus the value of family labour. Afterwards, BJP Kisan Morcha chief Virendra Singh said farmer protests had led the government to solve "seven out of 11 problems raised by them". He said political parties had turned the march into a political event Oneindia.
What came of the demands
- Special session: No special session of Parliament on the farm crisis was called. The Centre had already left this demand out when it responded to the BKU in October 2018 National Herald.
- The two bills: Neither private member's bill was passed. There is still no law that guarantees MSP Tribune.
- State loan waivers: After Congress wins in the December 2018 Assembly elections, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath cleared a waiver of crop loans up to Rs 2 lakh on 17 December, hours after taking office, which officials estimated at Rs 35,000 to 38,000 crore for about 34 lakh farmers PTI via Business Standard. Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel announced a Rs 6,100 crore waiver for 16.65 lakh farmers Scroll.
- PM-KISAN: In the interim Budget on 1 February 2019, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal announced Rs 6,000 a year in three instalments for farmers with up to two hectares of land, backdated to 1 December 2018. It was expected to cost Rs 75,000 crore a year and reach 12 crore farmers. Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha called it "peanuts" Scroll. IndiaSpend calculated that it worked out to Rs 3.3 per person per day for a family of five IndiaSpend.
Where things stand now
When the Samyukta Kisan Morcha suspended the 2020-21 farm law protests, a legal guarantee on MSP was still one of its pending demands. In July 2022, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the Lok Sabha that the government had promised a committee "to make MSP more effective and transparent", not a legal guarantee. He said MSPs had given a minimum 50 per cent return over cost since 2018-19 Tribune.
PM-KISAN continues. On 20 June 2026 the 23rd instalment of over Rs 18,880 crore went to over 9.44 crore farmers, and more than Rs 4.46 lakh crore has been paid out since 2019 PIB.
Questions people ask
What was the Kisan Mukti March?
A two-day farmers' march in Delhi on 29 and 30 November 2018, organised by the AIKSCC, a front of about 200 farmer groups.
What were the demands of the Kisan Mukti March?
A 21-day special joint session of Parliament on the farm crisis, and the passing of two private member's bills on freedom from debt and a guaranteed remunerative MSP.
Was the special session of Parliament held?
No, and neither bill was passed.
How many farmers took part?
There was no official count. Organisers expected about one lakh; a Delhi Police DCP said more than 8,000 had reached Ramlila Maidan.
Is PM-KISAN linked to the farmer protests?
The government announced PM-KISAN in February 2019 as income support for small farmers; it was not presented as a response to the march. IndiaSpend noted that farm distress was widely believed to have hurt the BJP in three state elections in December 2018.
Sources
- Deccan Herald: Farmers' march to Parliament explained, 22 Nov 2018
- PARI: The Kisan Mukti March in Delhi, full coverage, 2 Dec 2018
- Sabrang: Kisan Mukti March, farmers' protest march in Delhi on 29-30 November 2018, Nov 2018
- National Herald (PTI): Farmers convene in Delhi; threaten naked march if stopped, 29 Nov 2018
- Gulf News (PTI): Indian farmers begin march towards Parliament from Ramlila Maidan, 30 Nov 2018
- National Herald: Thousands of farmers march to Parliament demanding loan waiver, MSP, 30 Nov 2018
- National Herald: Kisan Mukti March live updates, 30 Nov 2018
- The Quint (IANS): Mega farmer rally reaches Delhi's Parliament street, 30 Nov 2018
- The Quint: Govt only favours industrialists: Rahul, Kejriwal at Kisan rally, 30 Nov 2018
- Oneindia: BJP's Kisan Morcha caught napping on farmers' rally, 6 Dec 2018
- The Wire: Two farmer bills tabled in Parliament, 21 parties extend support, 3 Aug 2018
- Business Standard (IndiaSpend): Farmers flood Mumbai, force Maharashtra govt to accept four major demands, 13 Mar 2018
- Al Jazeera: A 'long march' by India's farmers forces government to act, 14 Mar 2018
- The Quint: Farmers call off protest as Maha govt vows to meet land demands, 12 Mar 2018
- The Wire: Police use lathi charge, water cannons to stop over 70,000 farmers from entering Delhi, 2 Oct 2018
- Deccan Herald (PTI): Farmers march to Delhi turns violent, 3 Oct 2018
- National Herald: Farmers declare protest over after reaching Kisan Ghat, 3 Oct 2018
- IBTimes (IANS): Farmers call off 10-day protest after reaching Kisan Ghat, 3 Oct 2018
- Business Standard (Cabinet release): Cabinet approves hike in MSP for kharif crops for 2018-19, 4 Jul 2018
- Business Standard: MSP revision for 14 kharif crops to benefit farmers, says India Ratings, 13 Jul 2018
- Business Standard (PTI): First day first show: Kamal Nath clears farm loan waiver in MP, 17 Dec 2018
- Scroll: Bhupesh Baghel sworn in as chief minister, waives loans of over 16 lakh farmers, 17 Dec 2018
- Scroll: Budget 2019: Small farmers to get Rs 6,000 a year as assured income, 1 Feb 2019
- IndiaSpend: Interim Budget makes play for farmers, unorganised sector workers, middle-class voters, Feb 2019
- Tribune: MSP panel standoff: SKM says no provision to make MSP a legal right, 20 Jul 2022
- PIB: 23rd instalment of PM-KISAN, 20 Jun 2026